Dimly Lit
by R.M Sails
Summary: Prostitution Ring, Humanstuck. Dave/John, Gam/Kar, Dirk/Jake: "Oh, and Vantas?" Karkat stopped dead, looking back at Slick who just smiled at him. "You will be known as Carcino from now on, any mention of your legal name, and I am afraid there will be severe consequences."
1. Chapter 1

_You have been warned._

Karkat Vantas had a shitty day. He had been kicked out of his girlfriend's place because of some shit she was doing with someone else. His mind replayed her angrily placed words, about how he was a lazy bum without a job or some shit like that. And, with nowhere to go, we wandered the streets aimlessly. He could always see is Captor would take him back, but no, he was not ready to stoop that low. Not yet, anyway.

He found himself within a stone's throw away from the bar him and Captor used to go to. The sign swayed limply in the wind. It read; The Rose Garden and had a faded picture of a daisy with its petals blowing away in the wind.

Without giving it a second thought, he entered. The bar was vacant and had the strong scent of alcohol and smoke. A resounding beat echoed through the silent room, the sound came from a radio playing some song with a deep base.

A figure dancing on the stage caught his eye. The figure was male and had crazy black hair that curled and stuck out in all directions. He was wearing tight pants that hung just below his hips and a regular tee shirt that was almost see-through. The male dancer was dancing to the beat of the music, Karkat was transfixed.

The dancer stopped when he noticed Karkat standing there like a moron. He kicked the radio and it stopped playing the music, "We're closed motherfucker." Karkat blinked, nodding as he swiftly turned and headed for the door. "Hey, wait, I didn't say you had to go, get on over here fucker." he waved Karkat back over, sitting down on the edge of the stage. "Sit your ass down." he motioned next to him.

Karkat felt apprehensive, but then again, what did he have to lose? He cautiously approached the dancer, hopping up onto the stage next to him. "...Karkat Vantas..." he mumbled.

"Gamzee motherfucking Makara, nice to meet ya. They just call me Juggalo 'round here. Boss doesn't like it when we use our real names." he popped open a can of something to drink. "Want some?" he offered.

"Better not." Karkat decided.

"Just Faygo, man, nothin' to be scared of." he offered again, and Karkat shrugged and took it. "What brings ya here at this hour, Vantas?"

Karkat swallowed the drink, not half bad. "Girlfriend kicked me out, guess my feet just took me here I suppose. Where is everybody?"

"Ah...ya see we close early on Friday's." He waved his hand dismissively, "The privet club is quite... Lively this hour, and we don't want the wrong crowd getting a taste of what goes behind closed door, you know?" Gamzee took a sip from his own drink.

"Privet Club?" Karkat inquired, he knew there was some sort of extra room for the elite club members, but he supposed he didn't qualify to enter.

Gamzee nodded. "Yeah, workers here get a place to stay and food to eat in exchange for their services." He put a hand over Karkat's mouth. "Very hush hush operation, yeah? Keep your trap shut 'bout it."

Karkat pried Gamzee's hand from his mouth with a glare, still not fully understanding. "Yeah yeah, I get it, exclusive club bullshit. I didn't know the workers lived here though." He shrugged, "Got to be kind of shitty."

"No, bro, it really is quite miraculous. I get a nice comfy room and a bite to eat. Good deal in all, but if you want extra you got to work extra. I live upstairs, you see, so I get the whole package."

"Upstairs…?" Karkat blanked, "What about living downstairs?"

"Downstairs are for the basic workers, like waiters and shit." Gamzee suddenly smiled, looking as if he had some bright idea Karkat just knew in his gut he was going to regret. "Look, Vantas, if you need a place to stay there is always here. Hey, I know, you can be our new bartender!" he put an arm around Karkat enthusiastically, "Yeah; Slick, ha-ha dealt with the last one, so you'll be perfect match." He chuckled.

Karkat glared, shoving off Gamzee's arm. "He did what?"

"Nah, don't worry about it." Gamzee took another sip of his drink.

Karkat swallowed. "So, that's it then? All I have to do is serve people drinks and I get to stay here…?" He suddenly blushed. "Not as if I will be doing any of that fucking dancing or anything."

"Yeah, just a bartender. We'll have to talk to Slick 'bout you first." Gamzee chuckled, "Then boss will have to approve of you. Get your job and boom, place to stay, food to eat." Gamzee set aside the empty Faygo bottles. He then slipped off the stage and tore Karkat form where he was sitting before he could react. He tugged Karkat behind the stage and to a door he had never seen before.

"A-Alright, better than being on the streets I suppose... This is just temporary, though," he assured the dancer, suddenly getting a wave of dizziness. He allowed Gamzee to tug him along, his vision growing slightly darker around the edges.

"You'll probably be best downstairs, as a basic worker being a bar tender and all. You just get a bed. If you want extra, you need to work extra," he winked. "I suppose you have no experience with pleasing, do ya?"

"Pleasing..." Karkat's head spun more and more as he tried desperately to think. The more he attempted to get a grasp on his surroundings the harder he found to hang onto reality.

Gamzee chuckled. "Didn't think so." he stopped turning to Karkat, "Well, motherfucker, I've got a client in just a miraculous minute. I'll see who is around to turn ya over to 'em."

"Uhn..." Karkat nodded, starting to lean too far to his right.

"Whoa, Karbro." Gamzee caught him by his shirt before he took a nose dive and steadied him. "Don' tell me that little dose made you falter out this badly, now?"

"Juggalo!" A voice came from upstairs; "Juggalo, oh gosh, that better not be a client!" the panicked voice grew closer as he ran down the stairs.

"Nah, he is gonna be our new bartender, Trickster." Gamzee smiled proudly at his catch of the day. "We just gotta convince Slick to let boss see him." Gamzee ruffled Karkat's hair as he started to drift out of consciousness.

A young man, appearing to be in his late teens/early twenties stepped down from the last step, giving Gamzee a disapproving look. "You need to stop bringing in strays, Juggalo; you know what keeps happening to them…" He sighed and adjusted his glasses, moving a few strands of his black hair behind his ear. "I know I am going to regret this… but I'll take the stray. Besides, your client is already here. Get upstairs, Jug."The brunette warned. "And you owe me."

Gamzee smirked and tossed Karkat's half asleep frame to his co worker, bowing. "Of course, Johnbro." He chuckled. "Wh-ooops slipped again, mother fucker."

John rolled his eyes, taking Karkat in his arms. "You're full of it." He sneered as Gamzee fled upstairs. With him gone, John looked down at Karkat. "Great; stuck with you. Hey, you still with me…?" Karkat made a faint sound, barely recognizable as anything relatively disguisable as English. With another long sigh, John started up the stairs dragging the half asleep fool behind him. "You need to recuperate in my room… Jug's spiked drinks are nothing to laugh about…"

Karkat woke slowly; his head was pounding as he surveyed the room slowly. He was laid out on a comfortable bed, his head resting on a pillow. The room was blandly decorated and the lights dimmed. There was a small closet and a desk, to which he saw a figure sitting at. Alarmed, Karkat tried to sit and say something but no words came from him, only a half groan and he collapsed back onto the bed. _Fuck, my head…_ he groaned inwardly.

The figure looked up from the comic book he was reading, he sighed with a very faint smile. "Good, you're awake; it'll take a few days for that stuff to be flushed out of your system…" He sighed and closed his book. "My name's John, you have to call me Trickster, though." John spoke slowly as he helped Karkat into a sitting position leaned against the pillows.

"Ugh…" Karkat groaned, his head throbbing intensely. "The…fuck… did he give me…?"

John grabbed a glass of water from his desk. "Knowing Juggalo… no clue, but my guess is probably a date rape drug." He shrugged, heading back over to Karkat and opened his palm. In which, a couple tan pills sat. "Pain killers, don't worry it is safe." He assured, handing him the glass of water. "Boy, you slept for a while, it's Sunday night already."

"Thanks…" Karkat murmured gruffly, taking the pills quickly as if he did so would initiate sudden relief. He leaned his head back against the pillows despite being in a sitting position. He groaned again as his head felt like it was swimming in a puddle. "Why the fuck did he give that to me…?"

"The date rape drug?" John quirked an eyebrow. "Not sure, maybe he thought you were cute or something. No one really knows what is going on up in his head." He stated simply and slipped off the bed, pulling out a bag room under it.

Karkat's stomach reeled with disgust. "He would of actually…?" He trailed off, feeling sick on the inside from the sudden awareness of what could have happened.

"I wouldn't be surprised." John shrugged, assembling the various articles of clothing from the floor and into a bag.

Karkat let out another groan, putting a hand to his forehead. _Fuck. What have I gotten myself into…?_

"Hey, uh, look." John said. "I need to get going in a couple of hours, so I will have to show you to Slick and see if he approves…" He trailed off for a second, a quick flash of worry passing through his blue eyes. "Slick will take it up with the boss, and determine whether or not you get to stay…"

"Wonderful" Karkat spat out, feeling his stomach lurch. He groaned again, closing his eyes as he silently begged for his raging headache to cease. After a while, his mind started to slow down and the achiness he felt started to dissipate. He opened his eyes to the dimly lit room once again. _Shit... Fell asleep again... _He found himself unable to take his eyes away from the one he was suppose to call Trickster. For a while, Karkat couldn't tear his eyes away from the boy's features, much less the scarce amount of clothing he was reading.

At the moment, John was scanning through his comic book again. His bright blue eyes scanned over the pages, not having realized they had an on-looker. He was wearing a shirt similar to the one that Gamzee had been wearing. Much to Karkat's surprise John's legs were shaved clean and Karkat couldn't help but wonder what else might be shaved just underneath John's skin tight shorts. _Fuck, is he even wearing anything under those…?_ Karkat thought, and forced himself to draw his eyes away.

"Are you awake again?" John asked quietly, turning to the next page without looking up.

"Yeah." Karkat answered, half growing his response.

John once again set down the comic and smiled at Karkat. "Great! I guess this means I can show you around now…?" He stood and pulled a set of baggy pants out of it, slipping them on over his skin tight shorts.

Karkat forced himself to not stare and sat, his head spinning ever so slightly. "Guess so." John helped Karkat stand and led him out into a long hallway and to the top of the stairs where there was a small sitting room. The hallway extended in two directions, both dark either way Karkat looked.

"Bathrooms are to the right, I guess you won't be on the top floor very much but we do have our recreation area on the left, you can't miss it." John stated, letting whatever came to him roll off of his tongue. "Most of the rooms are down the hall after the recreation room, on the bottom floor it is all just rooms, but mainly just stick to your own room."

Karkat nodded as John spoke, not really paying attention. _Well, guess this is my new life… _He pondered, lost in his own thoughts. "…Got all that?"

"Huh? Yeah, I got it." Karkat looked at John and nodded, surveying the main room once more. "Where is everyone else?"

John suddenly swallowed. "Asleep, or with their clients," He said quickly, seemingly eager to change the subject. "You can meet them later, but we have one rule for uh, newbies; if they don't come to talk to you first, don't talk to them, alright?"

Karkat shrugged, the fresher air in the larger room was making him feel more clear headed. "Yeah, whatever," He mumbled. "When do I get to talk to this, Slick guy?" He asked, not noticing when John almost seemed to cringe at the name.

"Soon, prob—"

"TRICKSTER!" A voice barked out from the shadows, making them both jump and spin around to see a man emerge from the dark hallway. He was a tall, slender man with a black suit and tie, on his head rested a classy borsalino. As he grew closer, Karkat could see a scar ingrained in the man's skin from the top of his left eye down to his cheek. The best part being that the man looked absolutely furious. "What is the meaning of this, Trickster, bringing an outsider in here?" he snarled, taking John by the collar of his shirt and slammed him to the nearest wall, making the pictures on the wall jump.

"S-sir I a-apologize this is not my doing I-" The look on the man's face silenced John for a second; he swallowed and attempted to stabilize his voice. "Sir, Juggalo he offered him the job of bartender." He managed to breathe out.

The man's eyes softened into amusement and he released John, turning on Karkat. "Really now?" He cocked and eyebrow, "_Just _a bartender? What a pity, I was hoping he could fill the place of… oh dear me, what was her name? Something Leigon." He smirked. "A pity what happened to her…"

John grimaced and stood away from the wall, watching Karkat. _Do not move a fucking muscle if you have an ounce of sense in you just stay still and nod. _He begged silently. Karkat happened to glance over to see the pleading look on John's face and he swallowed, the message was delivered loud and clear; Slick was not to be trifled with.

"Trickster." He growled, making John cringe. "You've got an appointment tomorrow, at five."

John swallowed. "I have to be on the road by six on Mondays… it was our agreement."

Slick snorted. "Make it a quick visit then, if you have time to stay up all night and study, you have time for an appointment." His words made John flinch again. "I am not paying you to get through college, I am paying you to make our clients _happy_, Trickster, and if you can't I will find somebody else who can."

"Yes sir." John nodded. "I understand sir…"

"Well?" Slick snapped. "I believe you have clients tonight too, get to it!" He growled. John nodded, giving one last look to Karkat before slinking away back to his room. Slick smiled at john's departure. "Ah, so obedient, I wish I could get him to come in during the week as well." He gave a sad sigh and shook his head. "Pity it is not summer yet." He turned on Karkat, who was at a loss for words. "Come with me, you need your… inspection." And waved Karkat to follow him to an elevator marked _No Enter_.

Karkat felt sick on the inside, he wanted to throw up but knew better. He had a faint inkling of what _clients_ John was seeing to right now, and he really hoped that he just had an overactive imagination. Slick inserted a key into a side panel, calling the elevator down. He ushered Karkat inside and they went up to the third floor. Karkat followed silently as Slick lead him into an office. It had a desk that was completely cleared off for, oh fuck knows why. Various black and white photographs were hung on the walls and Karkat suspected the office curved around in an L shape possibly into a bedroom.

"Sit." Slick commanded and Karkat sat down opposite him, the desk separating Karkat from those maniacal eyes and face that sent chills down his spine. He noticed a rather old looking record player sitting in the corner, and wondered why the hell someone still owned such a thing. "State your name." Slick waved his hand dismissively, bringing out a rather large note book and he flipped to a new page. The pages of the book looked old, and the cover was torn. The spine somehow still intact with the various strings and sticky notes poking out of it. The edges of the cove and spine of the notebook had a deep red almost black color to them, and Karkat sincerely hoped they were not blood stains.

"Karkat Vantas." Karkat managed to choke out. He felt a sickening fear overtake him. _What… have I gotten myself into… fuck, this is bad, and I know this is bad holy fucking shit. _

Slick snorted. "Vantas? Interesting name." He paused, and tapped his ink pen against the page. "What is it we shall call you?" Karkat assumed it was a rhetorical question, so he stayed silent. "We can always come back to that, bartender, hardly the best job here. If you are planning to stay I am afraid that only covers a room with a single bed and one meal a day."

"So, I don't get a paycheck…?" Karkat asked, and Slick looked like he was going to laugh again.

"You get to stay here, we feed you, is that not enough?" Slick mused.

"Yes, I guess so…"

"Yes, _sir_." Slick corrected, scribbling down something. "Bartender, if we add waiter to the list we can add some extra meals in."

"Yes. Uh, that sounds fine, sir…" Karkat felt as if he was about to chock on his own words, he was going to have to wash his mouth out later.

"We will have you wait tables for our _privet _guests." He continued writing in the book. "Keep in mind, things such as clothes and out time are not covered in this current deal." He looked up to see Karkat's confused face. "Oh, yes of course, you have to have a certain amount of jobs to be allowed out of The Rose Garden."

Karkat stared at him in bewilderment, he swallowed figuring on the inside he could strike some deal later on going outside. He felt too tired and intimidated to argue. "Ah, sir no, what we have set up currently is just fine." He swallowed, nervous to find out what _other _jobs he may have to do.

"Very well, at any time you may ask to come and see me about your job list and we can always work something out." Slick handed him a key and waved his hand, "Your work schedule will be sent to you by tomorrow, and off you go."

Karkat hesitantly took the keys and stood, heading for the door.

"Oh, and Vantas?" Karkat stopped dead, looking back at Slick who just _smiled_ at him. "You will be known as Carcino from now on, any mention of your legal name, and I am afraid there will be severe consequences."

On that note, Karkat gave a short nod and exited the office. He quickly stepped in the elevator and it instantly took him down. He slumped against the back wall, staring at the ceiling. "Well, Vantas you stupid fuckass, you really fucked up this time, didn't you?"


	2. Chapter 2

_What is it each of us are searching for?_

John slunk back to his own room, a flash of worry for Karkat almost made him turn around but he decided against it. He closed the door with a sigh and picked up the full bag that was sitting on his desk. John emptied the contents onto his bed, sorting out the various sex toys and articles of clothing. He considered pleasuring himself in waiting for his next client, but with a yawn he decided his time may be better spent sleeping.

...

A couple hours later, John glanced at the digital clock above his desk and swallowed. It was almost time for his late night client. He quickly stood and grabbed some tighter fitting clothing, getting dressed. After being here for so long, the clothing he had gotten used to, even the strange men that would come into his room; but, the one thing that John could never shake off was how detached from regular life he had become. It seems that his entire reason for even doing this in the first place was a far away memory, or a dream even.

He heard the knock on the door, a triple knock signaling he had thirty seconds. John wondered who was on patrol, probably Ampora considering it was him he was going to have to cover for on Monday morning. Bastard probably is putting in extra hours to smooth things over with The Boss... John thought to himself as he stood and leaned against the wall, most clients preferred to shove him to the bed rather than just get down to it.

John could tell it was a man whom had entered from the room by his footsteps, the lights had been turned off due to the client's request. It was rule to never know your client's name, and most of them preferred to not have their requests see who they are. John suspected they were public figures, or rich CEO's every now and then, judging on the amount of fancy clothing they had discard.

Every once in awhile, it was requested to keep the lights ever so slightly lit in order for John to perform a teasing act or for rather interesting foreplay. He suspected that things such as bondage or much foreplay cost extra in the final bill, so things like that were rare. John knew that this night was just like many others; down to the point.

The stranger wasted no time pinning John to the bed and stripping him of what little clothing he had. A swift bite to his neck told John that he was allowed to react with this client and moaned softly. He felt the pleasure as it rippled through the stranger's body and John heard a belt being unbuckled and swiftly tossed aside.

John was thrown more so onto the bed, the man then climbed on top of him. John gasped faintly, his erection now being groped by a firm hand. "Come on, you little slut... moan for me." He growled under his breath and shoved a finger roughly inside of John. Though this barely phased John, he faked a surprisingly convincing moan that turned his client on more.

In no time, the stranger had flipped John onto his stomach and his length was fully inside of John; this did affect the young adult and he loud moan of pleasure. The man held onto John's hips and started up a tempo. He hit John's prostate dead on the first time and John whined pathetically, at his client's mercy.

The client let out a gruff moan, speeding up his thrusts as he panted heavily. In slamming into John, he nearly lost it in his crazy moans to please the man. His thrusts were heavy and John rarely felt this much force inside of him. John felt himself getting close, and tried to hold back as much as he could.

The man's fluid filled John, and he released as well letting out a cry of pleasure. John lay there, panting as the man withdrew and collected his clothing. Without another word; the man exited the room. His time chunk with John was over.

The young man was always silent when it was over, as if there was a lingering feeling of guilt; almost disgust. But no, the disgust had gone away after a while. He had rationalized that this was suppose to feel good, it was his body's reactions and not his own. He sometimes felt as if he separated body and mind all together to create this disgusting boy of whom he despised.

-

"Are we prepared for our... new hard worker, sir?" Slick spoke carefully, knife in hand as he stared at the poker cards strewn on the table. Slick's boss had a peculiar fondness for poker, possibly because he was a heavy gambler was always his suspicion. Though, these particular cards had not been played with in years. They had many tears in them, much of which Slick had done himself when stabbing the table angrily, to which he always regretted.

A short nod from his boss told him to shut up. He was looking over a spreadsheet of that month's income, and despite Slick's desperate attempts to smooth things over his boss' expressionless face stayed the same; looking more displeased by the minute.

Slick swallowed and spun the knife between his fingertips, he felt nervousness start to rise in his gut. Sometimes, there was just no class in his line of work. He remembered the good old days when if somebody didn't perform up to his standards off to the nearest ditch he went. But, in this case the man not meeting demands was lick himself, and he wasn't particularly fond of dying.

His boss looked up from the papers a displeased look in his eyes nearly sent chills down Slick's spine. If Slick had any sort of emotion related to fear, his boss would be the personified version of it. The Boss stood up and walked to the window, staring out over the darkened city.

For a split second, Slick was back in the underground. He was part of his old gang; his old companions playing poker as usual. The room was lit with a single lightbulb, they were speaking of their most recent heist.

His boss turning his head to watch him with an icy glare snapped Slick out of his memory; he knew the punishment for his actions. Slick stood from his chair and laid his arm out on his boss' desk, he carefully placed a hand over one of the Ace of Spades. Expressionlessly, he pulled the glove off of his drew the knife with his left hand; not his dominant hand but it would have to do. He knew that this time it would not be able to heal, it would render him immobile this time and for a split second he almost considered disobeying his boss. Slick brought the blade down deeply into his hand, it pierced through to the table sounding and made a sound as it hit the wood. His blood poured out all over the card, staining the wooden desk.

_This place is lacking a considerable amount of class..._ Slick thought to himself.

John woke Monday morning to Gamzee pounding on his door. He groaned and mumbled that the door was open as he quickly slipped into his casual boxers. "Hey, mother-fuckin'-Trickster." Gamzee chuckled and barged into the room, "Man bro, I had the most mother fuckin' miraclous night."

John rolled his eyes and started gathering his things together. "Let me guess; you had sex." He sighed and stood directly in front of the idiot, a bored look across his face. John was at least two heads shorter than Gamzee, but he gave not a single fuck.

"Yeah bro you stalkin' me or something?" Gamzee blinked and tilted his head, almost keeling over sideways.

John steadied him. "No. Just a wild guess." He leaned Gamzee against his door. "Look, I need you to cover for me this morning. I have to get to class, my roommate is starting to get suspicious of where I go each weekend."

Gamzee took a moment to process. "You know I'd gladly cove for you, mother fucker. I just don't think slick will like that very much."

John sighed. "Look; it is worth a try."

Karkat Vantas had an extremely rough night. His new bed was uncomfortable, and his unfamiliar surroundings would have scared him had it not been for his shit-ass bed. He knew that everything was probably better furnished upstairs but the young adult shuddered to think what lengths he would have to go in order to achieve having more desirable living quarters.

He finally shoved off of the uncomfortable bed and stretched, contemplating what the hell there was to do considering he was no longer allowed to leave. Karkat remembered that person from yesterday telling him about some sort of gaming room upstairs with a television. Having only one pair of clothes, he slipped into them and headed upstairs.

Karkat heard a commotion coming from the main room on the top step and he slowed, deciding it best to wait and listen.

"...Little fuck trying to get out of doing your own job. If you were here all the time I wouldn't be in the absolute mess I am in!" Karkat recognized the voice as Slick's. "No, you will stay!" There was a thumping sound and Karkat believed whoever was being yelled at had been tossed to the floor.

Karkat lost control and stormed upstairs. He saw that John, Trickster or whoever the fuck had been thrown to the floor, someone was walking down the hallway but Karkat was much too pissed to notice. "You could just tell the ignorant fuckass whatever the fuck it is you are trying to pound into his apparently microscopic brain instead of being a completely inept jar of fuck-paste about it!" He shouted, taking Slick by surprise as he stood in front of John. Silence fell on the air, and the scene unfolding became a staring contest.

A unnatural rage started to engulf Slick, it consumed what was left of his presumably classy and reserved personality into a cold hearted killer. He knew this feeling, as it was all too familiar to him. It was the feeling of freedom, of being able to let go and do as he pleases. In this state, no one could stop him and in seconds Karkat was swiftly and roughly pinned to the wall with a knife firmly against his neck.

Without time to react, Karkat quickly tried to calm himself and failed. He let out a gasp, the blade slicing lightly into his jugular. _Oh god oh god oh god I am going to die oh god oh god._

"Trickster." Slick growled, making Karkat shiver. "Get up. Your client arrives in twenty minutes. He has requested for you to come down to the bar area. He may be interviewing you to see if he will become a permanent client of yours, do not fuck this up. Now, GO." At his anger, John jumped to his feet and scurried away like a frightened rabbit. "And you..." Slick muttered, watching Karkat with hatred in his eyes. "How's about we move you upstairs?"

A lovely melody woke a young man whom had been sleeping. He groaned and listened to the tune, boredly staring up at the ceiling with his unusually brown almost orange eyes. As the song neared its end, he knew it would just repeat to annoy him so he groggily sat. As he pushed himself from the bed he felt liquid run his down his thighs, not so much as giving a single fuck he pulled on a pair of tightly fitting pants and decided to freshen up. He ran a hand through his pale blond hair and opened the door with a steady yawn.

He blinked and looked down the hall when he heard yelling coming from the main room. The young man shrugged and headed off towards the lavatory. Upon opening the door into the steamy shower room, he quickly found that he was not alone. Neritic... he thought silently.

"Puppeteer." A voice came from behind a running shower, a familiar moron with a purple stripe in his hair poked his face out from behind the curtain and surveyed the young man pervertedly. "I wwas wwondering if-"

'Puppeteer' swiftly walked past him and gave the one speaking a good punch to the face. With a yelp, the moron fell backwards in his shower stall. "DIRK." 'Neritic' growled and Dirk chuckled casually walking down to his usual shower stall. "Fucking bastard..." He heard him foe growl and exit the shower room. Now, finally alone, Dirk was left alone to his thoughts. Just another average day...

Mich later, nearing mid day, Dirk exited the wash room with a towel wrapped around his waist. He started down the hall towards his room and he found Gamzee waiting for him. "Slick wants ya." He nodded to Dirk, his eyes flashed with something that could qualify as close to being sober as Gamzee could get. "Somethin' about a new guy."

Dirk gave Gamzee a blank stare and nodded his head faintly to how he understood. Gamzee chuckled and headed off to the game room. Dirk quickly got dressed, pulling on a regular black tank and dark jeans. He rubbed his eyes and was at Slick's door in no time at all. he gave a knock.

"Ah.. yes, Puppeteer, come in." Slick's voice came from inside of his office, and Dirk opened the door.

John grimaced, not wanting to leave Karkat and yet he walked back to his room quietly. He heard someone yell out Puppeteer's name and flinched, just glad Slick was too busy with Karkat to track down who had uttered their proper names. John swallowed. Fifteen minutes until five. He was going to have to get cleaned up pretty quick in order to head back to the dorms... Not even time for a quick flush... He groaned, the feeling of cum in his clean pants and boxers was not his favorite thing to have to sit through class with.

John grabbed the correct clothing for the job, and prepared himself for his first time client. Most times, his first meeting with his client they wanted to get a taste of him. He was hopeful he could wrap this up quickly.

He headed downstairs._ Table fifteen... Table fifteen.._. He murmured to himself, scanning the room. John walked over to where he knew the table was and stopped dead. The man sitting at the table was wearing a gray suit and tie. He was a tall, slender man with a vacant expression on his face. A hat shaded his eyes and he was twirling his fingers.

"D-Dad...?"

"Jake..." Dirk muttered, a look close to surprise was written all over his face.


	3. Chapter 3

_I never thought it would be like this._

He was sitting at a circular table, hat pulled down over his head to hide his face. A solemn look was cast over his him as his heart filled with sadness. "Son... sit down..." He murmured, tapping his fingers nervously on the table. No sign of movement or cooperation was initiated and a sudden flash of rage took over the father. "I said sit down now!" His hand balled into a fist and he slammed it down on the table, causing John to jump and obey. "John... what were you thinking?"

John swallowed, he watched the table and traced its patterns with his eyes. Various thoughts circled around his head, pinging his throbbing mind with small inflictions of red hot pain. The fact he listened to his father, still now at twenty told himself that he was too used to obeying orders. This place was having effects on his mind, he knew that, but never saw how deeply he despised it until now. He felt sick, seeing his father welled up so many emotions. Pain, regret but mostly, hatred.

His father pulled something made of paper out of the inside of his jacket, taking a pen from his pocket and scribbling something down on the sheets. He ripped it from the rest of the small notebook and pushed it over to John, it was a check made out to him. John scowled. "I don't need your money."

"If you're here, you obviously do." John's father spoke sternly, a hint of regret in his concerned tone.

John glanced over the check, still refusing to make eye contact with his father. He mumbled something under his breath about how the check was useless to him anyway. "What are you trying to do?" He demanded of his father, "Are you trying to make make up for leaving?" HIs voice quivered towards the end.

His father fell silent, "If I was, John...?"

John stood up. "Then forget it. You left Jade and I when we were sixteen, we didn't have anywhere to go, do you realise how difficult that was!?" John's stood, making some of the early morning cleaning crew look up from their duties. John shook his head. "No. You have no idea what I have been through." He spun on his heels and started back towards the stairs.

"Jade is outside, John." These words made John freeze. After moving into a dorm room with Dave for college, he had not spoken to his sister. He assumed she went to college as well and just never sent him any information about it. He had come to terms that it was for the best, once he was out of his predicament he would talk to here again but now...  
John swallowed and continued to the stairs, his father murmuring as he left. "I wish I could say I was proud of you, son, I always dreamed I would come back and say those words to you in person."

…

John made his way downstairs after changing his clothes and packing up his things. He nodded to the head administrator, Puppeteer, on the way out to signify he was leaving. He drew in a deep breath, glad the weekend was over. Though he knew he would be back here in just four days, he acted as if nothing was abnormal about him. Noticing his father had left, he headed out into the main bar room and then through the front door. He scanned the street and set off to his usual room back to the dorms.

Suddenly, he was embraced tightly around the shoulders from behind, trembling arms wrapped around him. "J-John..." A voice whispered fearfully. "P-Please tell me it isn't true." It was Jade, from the sound of her voice John could tell she was crying. "J-John...?" She stammered as he pulled away from her grip, turning to face her.

"Look, Jade I..." he started and paused, watching her quietly. She had grown out her hair again, changed the frames on her large round glasses. She had changed, John decided. 'And so have you...' He thought to himself before speaking again. "I... have had to make a lot of really freaking difficult decisions and sacrifices and I-"

"John!" Jade cut in, "You can't rationalize to thinking that... that... this was the right thing to do!" She was at a loss for words, never thinking that a situation like this would arise, especially with her brother.

John flinched at her words, he knew she was right but nothing could erase the mess he had gotten himself into before he had to resort to whoring himself. "Look...Jade I... I can't do anything about it.. I-"

John was cut off by a quick slap to the face, knocking him back in sheer surprise. He clutched his flaming hot cheek and looked at his sister. Tears streamed down Jade's face, and her hands shook. "John you stupid bastard!" Her voice shook with anger as the tears kept coming. "You could of gone to Jane, she practically raised us after dad left, John! What about Dave, or Rose? What about me J-John?!" She was almost screaming at him now, she sobbed into her hands as her glasses fogged up. John stood there, trembling at Jade's words. "Why... is there... any shame in asking for help...?"

"Jade.. I..." He started.

"N-no.." Jade shook her head. " No apologies, John, it's too late for that. You left me, just like dad! You are just as bad as him!" She yelled, causing the air to fall silent between them. John felt the tears stinging his eyes as the pain surfaced, her words were truth. Her sobbing melted into whimpers and she turned her back to John, rubbing her eyes as she walked away. He could say nothing to make her return, even so, knowing this he took one step after her just before she took off running.

…

John entered the dorm room at the end of the day, tossing his bag aside to his bed. The small room consisted of a bunk bed, a desk in the corner and a small bath and shower room. He quickly rummaged through a box of his things, tearing out a textbook and making a beeline for the desk in the corner of the room.

"You were gone for awhile this time..." A voce made John jump, and he looked up to see his roommate Dave Strider leaning against the bathroom door. The blonde was wearing his usual aviators, red sweatshirt and black skinny jeans.

John tore his eyes away from the other. "I need to study Dave..." He mumbled, opening his textbook.

Dave sighed. "Still not going to tell me where you go every weekend, Egbert?" he inquired.

John swallowed. "Work. I keep telling you, I work every weekend..." He answered quickly, scanning over the textbook pages.

"Yeah, whatever." Dave huffed, laying down on the lower bunk and slipped out his laptop. He set it up on his chest, hiding his worry and disappointment behind the computer and his shades. "Thought you were my best bro, John."

John paused. "I-I am Dave!" He took a moment to calm himself. "Look, I keep telling you, I work every weekend to pay for being able to take classes here..."

Dave fell silent for a little bit. "Whatever..." he muttered, slipping on his headphones to tune his roommate out. John... you have no idea... why didn't you just tell me, I would've rather heard it from you... He thought, pretending to put his headphones on.

With his back to Dave, John buried his face in his hands. Tears crept into his eyes and he did his best not to shake. He wished things were different, between his family, himself and most of all Dave. He chased Dave all the way to college, hoping that by some miracle they would end up together. Everything was so messed up and John wished he didn't exist.

…

He couldn't sleep. Laying on the top bunk had always been a problem from the start, he couldn't count the nights he spent escaping the dorms and just walking in the chilled air until he felt tired enough to pass out.

John was lucky enough to have a very deep sleeper for a roommate. He spilled the the ladder, carefully making his way down to the floor. Slipping on a loose pair of pants and t-shirt, he exited the dorm room.

The cold air on his face felt refreshing, and his teeth chattered. John made a right down out to the end of the dorm rooms. He coughed faintly, noticing how weak he felt that night as he made his way to a nearby park a few blocks away.

He coughed again, this time deeper than the first. He shivered and entered the park, heading over to a lonely swing in the dark. He sat down, staring at the overturned sand from the children earlier that day. His head was swimming with thoughts and the pain from that day.

"Egbert...?" a voice inquired from behind him in the dark, John spun around to see Dave; dressed in barely anything except an ironically soft robe and his shades. John tore his eyes away from Dave, giving a heavy cough into his sleeve. "C'mon... it's fuckin' late." Dave sighed, "You sound sick, man. Come back to the room."

John gave a pained, heavy sigh. "Can't sleep." He mumbled and shivered, he was feeling worse as the minutes ticked by. Dave quietly took the swing next to him, giving him a questioning look from behind his sunglasses.

They both fell silent for a while, Dave was the first to speak. "John, look if I was being a complete dickweed earlier you can just tell me."

"No, no..." John shook his head. "No, it's not like that... I just have a lot of stuff on my mind..." He coughed again, this time was the hardest. Dave stood and put a hand on John's shoulder.

"Let's go back, Egbert." John nodded, no longer resisting as Dave helped him stand. He swayed, nearly tipping over. Dave slung John's arm over his shoulder to help him walk and they started off back to the dorms. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

John chuckled, he knew then that he would sleep soundly for the rest of the night.

...


End file.
